The Memphis Grizzlies today announced that the team signed guard Ja Morant to a multi-year contract extension. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Morant (6-2 ½, 174) averaged 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.16 steals in 33.1 minutes in 57 games (all starts) last season and helped guide the Grizzlies to the second-best record in the NBA during the regular season (56-26), which tied the single-season franchise record, and the Southwest Division championship, the first division title in franchise history.
The 22-year-old was selected to the 2021-22 All-NBA Second Team and was named the 2021-22 NBA Most Improved Player following his third NBA season, during which he was voted by fans as a starter for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, his first All-Star appearance. He joined Marc Gasol as the only players in franchise history to receive at least All-NBA Second Team honors and Gasol as the only players to be named a starter in the All-Star Game.
Morant, who became the first guard to lead the NBA in points in the paint per game (16.6 points) since play-by-play data was first tracked in 1996-97, became the first player in franchise history to win consecutive Western Conference Player of the Week Awards, earning the first two weekly honors of his NBA career on Jan. 3 and Jan. 10 in the midst of a franchise-record 11-game winning streak (Dec. 26-Jan. 13).
The South Carolina native recorded a single-game franchise record with 52 points on Feb. 28 vs. San Antonio, one of his six performances with at least 40 points last season (a single-season franchise record).
During the 2022 Playoffs, Morant averaged 27.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 9.8 assists in 37.6 minutes to help lead Memphis to the Western Conference Semifinals for the first time since 2015.
Morant was named the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year and was selected to the 2019-20 NBA All-Rookie First Team after he was selected by Memphis with the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. He has started all of his 187 appearances over three seasons with the Grizzlies and has averaged 21.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7.1 assists in 32.2 minutes. He holds career postseason averages of 28.2 points, 6.9 rebounds and 9.2 assists in 38.6 minutes.